NLRB accuses Apple of illegally restricting employee Slack and social media use

The Nationwide Labor Relations Board has accused Apple of infringing on its staff’ rights to advocate for higher working circumstances. In a complaint noticed by Reuters, the company alleges Apple illegally fired an worker who had used Slack to advocate for office modifications on the firm. Individually, the NLRB accuses Apple of forcing one other employee to delete a social media submit.

The case stems from a 2021 criticism filed by #AppleToo co-organizer Janneke Parrish. In October of that yr, Apple fired Parrish for allegedly sharing confidential data, a claim she denies. Per the criticism, Parrish used Slack and public social media posts to advocate for everlasting distant work.

She additionally shared open letters essential of the tech large, distributed a pay fairness survey, and recounted cases of sexual and racial discrimination at Apple. In keeping with the labor board, Apple’s insurance policies bars staff from creating Slack channels with out first acquiring permission from a supervisor. As a substitute, staff should direct their office issues to both administration or a “Folks Assist” group the corporate maintains. An instance of the kind of issues some staff used Slack to voice will be seen in a 2021 tweet from former Apple employee Ashley Gjøvik.

“We sit up for holding Apple accountable at trial for implementing facially illegal guidelines and terminating staff for participating within the core protected exercise of calling out gender discrimination and different civil rights violations that permeated the office,” Parrish’s lawyer, Laurie Burgess, instructed Reuters.

Apple didn’t instantly reply to Engadget’s remark request.

Offered Apple doesn’t settle with the company, an preliminary listening to is scheduled for February with an administrative choose. The NLRB is trying to pressure the corporate to alter its coverage and reimburse Parrish for the monetary hardships she suffered because of her firing. Final week, the NLRB accused Apple of forcing staff to signal unlawful and overly broad confidentially, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.